UW rises to R1 research university status; joins top 4.8% of American universities

LARAMIE, Wyo. — The American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching are awarding the University of Wyoming admission into the highest echelon of research universities nationwide: R1 status. UW joins just 186 other universities around the country as a school that makes a deep impact on research and innovation.

University of Wyoming President Ed Seidel, as quoted in a UW release regarding the announcement, said that this news goes a long way in boosting the value of a UW degree.

Seidel added that R1 status “serves as an impressive recruiting tool for faculty, staff and students; enhances our ability to boost the state’s economy; enriches the student experience through research opportunities; and builds on the already extraordinary sense of pride among members of the UW community.”

The university attributes the achievement to initiatives such as the formation of the UW Graduate School and yearly expenditures reaching as high as $166 million just for research. That funding makes the university the 42nd highest funded research institution in the country without a medical school, according to the release.

UW Vice President for Research and Economic Development Paraj Chitnis, also quoted in the release, said that this acknowledgement will facilitate even more economic growth for the state of Wyoming as a whole.

“Most importantly, it will benefit our students, because faculty engaged in research generate new knowledge that advances the education students receive both inside and outside of the classroom,” Chitnis said. “Students will be more prepared for careers through inquiry-focused work in labs and creative spaces.”

Other changes made in the past few years that likely contributed to the school’s new prestigious designation are the foundation of the UW School of Computing; the creation of the UW Office of Industry and Strategic Partnerships; the reworking and development of both the UW Science Initiative and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation; the formation of the Artificial Intelligence Initiative; and the expansion of faculty positions throughout the university.

All of this, according to Seidel, will make the University of Wyoming a place graduates can take more pride in attending and a place potential faculty can see as a worthy place to conduct research.

For more information on the the American Council on Education’s R1 status, see the council’s website here. To learn more about the variety and depth of research taking place at the University of Wyoming, visit the university’s public website.